Shades of Purple
by Loveless8
Summary: "Right, you'd rather not say, but the stars have aligned and Saturn must have fliped a bitch, because 'Heero-no-emotion-Yuy' has finally found someone he actually likes!"
1. Chapter 1

First of all, I'd like to say, no, I don't own Gundam Wing. I wish I did, but sadly no. Secondly, this is a Yaoi meaning there is some Boy on Boy action in here. Very minimal at first, but as the story progresses it will get more intense. Last but not least if you like it, please review! Thanks!

My take on things after Endless Waltz, from Heero's POV. Focuses on 1x2x1, also my thanks to **jeangreymullinsjr **for being my beta.

Shades of Purple

Looking around my office: two desks sat across from one another, my eyes landed on my partner. How long had it been, 2 years since they started to work together? My partner was humming under his breath, a wicked smile displayed a crossed his face. I had to fight down the smile that was threatening to break loose, wondering how Une was going to take his latest mission report. He always found ways to make them eventful, to say the least. My dirty little secret was that after Duo would go home, I would make sure to read them, when nobody, I mean nobody, was around. Not being one to display any sort of emotion, anyone would probably faint if they saw me sitting in my office laughing out loud at one of his reports. Not to mention, I would never live it down. Looking at the clock on the wall 4:30; 'humm, still an hour to go.' Throwing down my pen on the desk, I leaned back. All of my reports are done and everything was caught up, having nothing to do, well….sucked. Looking over at Duo again, he met my gaze. God, he was so beautiful. Loving everything there was about the braided man across from me: the way his bangs fell in his eyes, and how when the sun touched it, you could see the red highlights in his chestnut hair. But what I loved the most was the way his eyes would change colors depending on his mood.

Violet: when he was in a mischievous mood, knowing to look out of any trap he may have hidden in my desk. Learned that one real fast….. Shooting a hole through my desk in the middle of a work week, and working at the Preventer's office did not go over to well with Une. Let's just say that my request for a new desk was not approved and the pop out snakes were a goner. "Was that a smile, Heero Yuy?" Shit! Was I smiling? I shook my head and let the icy exterior come out again. "Hn." Shifting back to typing, I looked for something to find. "Does Heero have a new love interest?" I freeze hoping he doesn't know. It only lasted for a second, but he caught it; nothing ever could get past him. Other then the fact that I have been in love with him for who knows how long… "I am right!" My eye widen and grow to an indigo hue. His eye's don't change, but he smiles, he's angry at something. "Who is she?" he asked in a teasing voice. Ignoring him was a bad idea because he was over in a instant resting his arms on my desk in front of me. "Come oooonnnnnn, Ro. You hafta tell me! What kind of partner would I be if I didn't know?" I wonder what he would do if I told him.

Sighing and stilling my hands, I look at him. "There is nobody, Duo. Get back to work;" not that I could have anyway. Duo glared at me, "Liar, if you don't want to talk about it, that's all you had to say." When did he learn to read me so well? Looking at his retreating back, I knew that if he weren't angry before, he was pissed now. "I'd rather not say." I wonder how he didn't get whiplash the way he turned around; his eyes were sparkling with a touch of blue. He was sad. Why the hell was he sad? "Do I know her?" He was trying to be playful and squeeze me out of every bit of information he could. I have seen this tactic used many times; the victims never came out unscathed…. Ok, so that was a little bit of an over-dramatization, but what can you say when you're dealing with Duo? Cocking an eyebrow at him, and trying to glare at the same time was pretty hard, but he got the picture. "Right, you'd rather not say, but the stars have aligned and Saturn must have flipped a bitch, because 'Heero-no-emotion-Yuy' has finally found someone he actually likes!" I stare at him, glaring. That comment hurt. Duo was the only one whom I thought didn't think of me that way. Hearing the bitterness that was on his voice was conformation. Grabbing my briefcase and throwing a few files in, I click it shut. "Just so you know: this is anger." Walking out, slamming the door in the process so that everyone in the hall looked down, surprised that it was me throwing a fit. Not really caring about leaving 45 minutes early from work, I passed a surprised Chang on the way out. "Yuy?" I ignored him as I walked to my car, getting in and driving away.

Throwing my keys into the dish next to the front door, I took off my gun, taking out the clip in the process and putting it in my pocket. Checking the chamber and setting it down, I didn't want to harm anyone if they decided to evade my two bedroom apartment. Walking to my bedroom, I changed into and old white tee shirt that wasn't quite so white anymore; my sweet pants were in the same condition. I went into the guest bedroom, which I had converted into my office, and opened the door. Plastic sheets laid over the hardwood floor; colors assaulted my senses: blue, indigo, yellow, orange. The images on wall one was complete: a sunset on the beach; it was actually one from memory. It was the only memory I have of my mother. It was also the first real sunset I had ever seen. I think I was around five when we came to Earth, watching as the sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky, the waves rolling in and out. Having seen what the sun can do from L1, I felt afraid, until my mother's sweet, soft voice whispered in my ear 'that everything was going to be ok,' pulling me into a warm embrace. From that moment, I was safe.

Smiling at the painting, I looked to my right. There were around twenty small cans of paint on my desk. Millions of tubes of paint laid scattered everywhere, spatters of paint over the plastic cover on the floor, and rags and paper towels were overflowing onto the bookshelf. Two shelves where devoted to them. The bottom two shelves where filled with 2 inch binders and the top two shelves had more small cans of paint. Braking open a can of green paint, I began searching for the gallon of white. I found it under the desk and picked up the gallon: empty, damn. Walking to the door, I slip on my black flip-flops and grabbing my keys and gun, I put it in the side holster that I always have on in the daytime underneath my shirt. Opening the door, I froze, face to face with Duo. His eyes were the shade of dark lavender: he was nervous about something. "Duo?" He swallowed, looking me up and down as he was still in his Preventer uniform, holding his jacket over his shoulder. I smirked at him, "loss for words?" He has never seen me relaxed. Shutting the door behind me and locking it, he finally got his thoughts together. "Herro, hey." He started to walk faster to catch up with me. "Hey, Heero, look man, I'm sorry. It just kinda threw me for a loop. I'm glad that you've found someone. It's good for ya." Pausing to look at him as if he were stupid, I continue on. "So that was your apartment? Looked nice from what I saw." I nodded my head, but didn't slow down. "Look," he stopped because I couldn't hear the tap-tap of his feet behind me anymore, causing me to stop. He continued, "I call you my best friend, but I don't know anything about you. You've never invited me over to your apartment, and I can barely get you to come over to my house. We hardly hang out outside of work…..so I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight?"

Looking out of the corner of my eye, his face was dusted with a light red blush, God help me. What I wanted most at that moment was to run my hands through his hair, pulling his face into a kiss, then slowly tracing my tongue over his lips, stopping to bite his lower lip, and when he opens his mouth, I would slide my tongue into his mouth, exploring every reaction… and then he would run screaming in the other direction. Duo is so far from gay, I don't even think it's anywhere in his personal dictionary. But, if I wanted to keep Duo's friendship,… well, it was better to have his friendship then nothing at all, my mind concluded. "We can have dinner at my place." Starting to walk again, I noticed that he still wasn't fallowing. "You coming?" I almost started to laugh after the words left my mouth, but I controlled it as he started to walk. "What are we doing?" he asked as I opened the door to the hardware store. "Paint." I grunted, walking to the back of the store.

The cashier was sitting behind the counter leafing through a magazine when he looked up. "Hey Heero, I had a feeling you would be coming in today," he told me as he picked up two gallons of black and white paint from behind the counter. "I wasn't sure what you needed, so I grabbed them both." His eyes caught sight of Duo, and just as quickly, his face was suddenly set in a frown. "Are you ok, Heero? You know if you need any help, I know some people…" I couldn't help it, but I laughed. "No, Ryan, this is my friend Duo" I introduced, looking over at Duo with a smile still on my lips. He was looking at me as well, his eye's changing to a deep violet color that I hadn't seen before, but it was gone in a second; back to the dark amethyst that was normal for him. He walked over and extended his hand to Ryan, "nice to meet'cha." Ryan looked at the hand for a second then extended his, "nice to meet someone that he knows. I was beginning to think that he was a loner." Dropping their hands, Duo responded with, "no, he is, or at least he would like to be." Grinning, he looked my way. Ryan responded in kind, "all artist are like that, man. They think it makes the creative juices flow, but I don't see the point. Which reminds me…" shuffling underneath his desk, he pulled out a flyer. "There's an art show in three weeks. You should bring your work by this guy Aaron Sims. He's looking for a spot to be filled, so don't waste time on calling." Taping the flyer onto the paint cans, I buy them both. Duo has a puzzled expression, but he doesn't say anything as he grabs one of the cans of paint and follows me out. Ryan yells, "see ya!."

"So you're an artist, huh?" I shrug, "I just like to paint, doesn't mean I'm an artist." The rest of the walk was in silence. Opening my front door and throwing my keys back into the dish, I wait until he'd through the door before letting it shut. He whistles as he walks into the living room, "man, I didn't know you had good taste." Looking at the living room, one wall was completely done in gray and white rock, which also held my flat screen TV, with a dark wooden shelf underneath it. On that shelf were four small boxes that contained my movie collection. The wall that was across from it was light blue with black Japanese lettering, complete with a tan sectional couch and a low table made from the same dark wood. The kitchen was small and plain, other then the green vines I painted around the top of the wall. Walking into the kitchen, I plug the kitchen sink and turn on the water to let it fill. Grabbing the freezer door and pulling out the frozen chicken, I set it in the sink, shutting off the water. "Hn," I commented offhand, walking to my bedroom to grab an extra set of clothing for Duo and tossing it to him. "You will want to change," I instructed as I pointed to the bathroom. I walked towards my office to start tapping plastic over my other works in progress, when Duo walked through the door dressed in sweat pants and white tee shirt much like me. Going to the desk and opening one of the drawers, I pulled out water balloons, putting them into a bucket that was stored underneath the desk. Going back to the desk and pulling out two beanies, he looked at me like I was ridiculous. "To cover your hair," I explained, putting mine on. He sighed, but copied me, as I picked up a water balloon, chucking it at the wall. Dark blue paint exploded across it. I didn't know I was smiling until I looked at Duo. His eyes were back to being a deep violet. I think out of all, I love this one the most. "Are you just going to stand there?"

My breath almost caught in my throat when he smiled back, a true honest to god smile that climbed all the way up to his eyes. They were sparkling with happiness. If I had known I would get this reaction, I would have done this a lot sooner. "Hell no!" He dug in. Thirty-five balloons later, we were both on the floor laughing. Duo managed to cover most of me with the paint that was meant for the wall. "I should have known there was more to you." Putting my hands behind my head and leaning back, I explained "this emotion is happiness." He was blushing again. Damn it, I wish he wouldn't do that. My mind cannot help but wander. My eyes start to travel down his chest as the door bell rang, jolting me out of my thoughts. Picking myself up, I thought 'who could be at my door?' I took off my paint soaked shirt and tossed it to the ground, slipping into my flip-flops outside of the door. Walking to the door with caution, clicking the clip back into my gun, I open the door. My eyes landed on the next door neighbor.

"Alice?" "Heero, I am so glad your home. I have a huge favor to ask you," the dark haired women had pleading eyes, "my mother is sick and I've got to go back to California to help her out until my brother can get back to help her." What did this have to do with him? "The thing is, I just recently rescued a dog and I can't take him with me. Would you be interested in dog watching for me? I would pay you, of course, and I wouldn't be asking, but you're my last option other then taking him down to the pound. I'd much rather not do that." My eyebrow went up. "What kind of dog?" "Border collie," she winced a little bit, but continued, "he's well trained, he's just a very hyper dog that needs to be exercised. If you do that, he's a sweet dog." She was taping her foot. "When do you need an answer by?" Looking at her watch, "I've about 30 minutes to spare before I miss my flight." Her face was hopeful… "Bring him by in fifteen minutes, I'll make my decision then." I shut the door and walked towards the shower, where I could already hear Duo singing off tune. Smiling to myself, I knocked on the door. "Be out in a second, buddy!" he yelled out to me, as I heard the water shutting off.

"Don't the Preventers have a kennel?" I could hear the sound of something bouncing on the floor, while he responded through the door, "ya, they've got kennels to drop off your pet while you're at work; some shit about wanting agents to be able to form attachment with something…" There was some more shuffling around, "Why, you plan on getting an animal?" The likelihood of her coming back to claim the dog was slim to none. If she decided not to come back, then I had a plan, not wanting to take on something that, in the end, I wouldn't be able to take care of. "Maybe," I responded as the door opened to Duo with a frown on his face. "Getting a dog is probably not a good idea. We go on missions that can last up to two weeks at a time, if not more. What would you do with a dog?" Stepping into the shower fully clothed underneath the spray, I take off my sweats and boxers and slip off my flip-flops, scrubbing the dry paint off my skin. "Hn." "Not that I am bad mouthing getting a dog, and I know that you think everything through to a T…" I grabbed the soap, "The neighbor girl just asked me to watch her dog, but the chance of her coming back is iffy." Shutting the water off and securely wrapping the towel around my waist, I stepped out. His mouth was hanging open… "What, I don't have to plan everything. I do have the capabilities of going out on a whim." His mouth shut with a snap. "I didn't think you couldn't, I just never saw it happen." True enough, he hadn't. "Now you have." I left him to go get changed and by the time I stepped back out fully dressed, the doorbell rang.

Opening the door, there sat a pure white Border Collie with a red collar and two shinny tags; the soft thump of a tail hitting the floor. His tongue hung out of his mouth, while one ear was cocked up and the other one lying down on the top of his head. Falling to one knee, I held out my hand. The dog hesitantly sniffed at it; the thumping of his tail increasing. As the dog stood up on all fours, he reached for my face, giving it a big wet lick, then spun around in front of me, hoping back and forth between legs. If dogs could smile, I swear he was doing it right now. Alice look perplexed. "I've had him for a month and he's never acted that way towards anyone." She looked at her watch and tapped her foot. In her arms was a brown bag. "I'll watch him." The relief in her face was evident as she handed me the bag, "thank you, thank you! His vaccination records are in there, as well as his food and toys." Looking at her watch again, she rushed, "well I have to run," as she turned to grab her suitcases and walked down the hall. "What's his name?" She pulled her bags into the elevator and yelled back at me, "Fluffy!"

Feeling my eyes go wide, she chuckled as she hit the down button. I could hear Duo laughing before I could see him. "Fluffy." The dog was excitedly running around the couch, barking at Duo's laugh. "Heero and his dog. Fluffy!" Then the laughter erupted again. Putting the bag down and rummaging through, I pulled out two dishes. Fluffy stopped in front of me, waiting impatiently for the dish to come down to the floor. His blue eyes watched my every move as I pulled out the food, setting it on the small table I have to the side. Going to the kitchen and filling up his water dish, I set it down onto the mat that I have in the kitchen, and doing the same with the dog food.. Happily, the dog mowed down his food. Looking back at Duo, his amusement was plain to see on his face. "Never would have believed it if I hadn't see it." I couldn't help but smile back at him. "We should go for a walk. There's a vendor down the street where we can pick up some food." He nodded enthusiastically, getting ready to go. I pass him a light jacket of mine so he could leave his Preventer jacket behind. He accepted gratefully, knowing that not everyone thought highly of the Preventers. It was best not to walk around with a target on your back.

Grabbing a leash and clipping it to his collar, we were out the door. Fluffy didn't pull on the leash, instead walking calmly beside me and Duo, his tail going wild. "How old do you think he is?" I shrug. "Don't know anything about dogs." He looked at me in disbelief, "man, you really did go out on a whim!" I couldn't help but watch him as he bit his lip while thinking. "He's probably around two. They're high energy dogs, very intelligent, and love to herd other animals," I nodded, "They're not really suited for apartments, but if anyone can keep up with Fluffy, you can." He snickered a little after he said Fluffy. "How do you know so much about dogs?" He looked at Fluffy. "Always wanted one; life never saw it that way." Nodding, I added, "I had a dog once, when I was little. It was before everything…" before blood, sweat and tears. Falling silent as we walked down the street, the sun slowly sank in the sky. "I think Fluffy will be good for you." Looking at him out of the corner of my eye, he was fidgeting with his braid. "Maybe."

The vendor started to come into view, so I clarified, "This guy makes the best Philly Cheese steak sandwiches." Duo's face visibly brightened, "ya, we'll see if he can pass my test, but the bar is already up there." Smirking at him, I responded in turn, "…prepare to be amazed then." The older man spotted me from behind the cart. "Heero! Good to see you." Nodding in acknowledgement, I requested. "Two please." Duo started to pull out his wallet, but I stopped him. "I got this one. You can get the next." His glare went to an expression that I can only translate as being hopeful. Puzzled, I handed the cash over to the vendor, Jed. He already had the sandwiches wrapped and ready to go; me taking one, Duo taking the other. "Thanks Jed," the older man waved us off as we walked to the park.

"Soooo… is there any other surprises today?" My mind went instantly to wrapping my arms around him pulling him into a hug, gently kissing him on the neck, but I banish that as soon as it came. "You'll just have to wait and see…" Well, maybe not completely banished from my mind. My teasing voice didn't fall short on Duo's ears, "and now he jokes!" Reaching the park, there was a fenced field with nobody in it. "Lucky for you we have the next couple of days off, so you can see how his temperament is," he told me, walking to the bench. I bend and unclip Fluffy's leash, taking out a ball and tossing it, he was off like a rocket, giving a bark as he left. "That is true." Fluffy was on his way back, stopping in front of me as he dropped the ball, giving a bark. Picking it up and giving it another toss, he ran after it. "Why….why didn't you tell me?" Looking at him with sharp eye's, deducing that he was talking about my behavior. "I tried with the others: Chang, Barton, Winner…" pausing, picking out my words carefully so Duo wouldn't be offended, "everything was changing from War to Peace, then the Barton incident happened. I felt like everyone was counting on me not to change, that out of everyone, it was my duty to stay the same, so they could function and I accepted that." There was a _thunk_ at my feet. I picked up the ball and threw it again. "Out of all the pilots, I respect you the most." Being a disappointment in Duo's eyes was not acceptable. Not meeting his eyes, I watched as Fluffy ran around with the ball in his mouth. He was trying to decide if he wanted to bring it back or keep rolling around in the dirt. Duo spoke, breaking the silence, "wonder if Fluffy likes water?" He was smiling; I could hear it in his voice "My luck, he would probably hate it." A warm laugh escaped Duo.

"Just so you know Heero, you could never disappoint me. When I call you my best friend I mean it. It also means that I take all of the good with the bad, so don't be anything but you around me, K, buddy?" I nodded giving him a small smile. I know I could never really be my true self around him, because that would involve a lot of touching. I crave physical contact like a drug. I am ok without, but as soon as you give it to me, I can't live without it…. Well I can, but the withdrawal is hard. There is only one response I could say without lying: "I will try." His eyes never left mine, changing into the deep violet that I was becoming addicted to. "GOOD!" he responded excitedly "Let's eat then," he said, unwrapping his sandwich and digging in. I did the same.


	2. Chapter 2

So when I started writing this story it was just spouse to be a sappy Romance that was only going to be, maybe, two chapters, just to give me a break from my other stories, but this is turning into a big story full of adventure/friendships/Romance. Also, thank you jeangreymullinsjr for offering to beta my stories. I really needed the help. Now on with the story….. I am forgetting something hummmm oh ya Gundam Wing is so not mine.

Shades of Purple

Heero's Past

Waking up, I could hear a whining at my door. "Duo?" My eyes coming into focus, I remember the dog. Looking to my left, the clock giving off a harsh red light, read 5 A.M. I dragged myself out of bed. The dog was pacing back and forth when I finally got to the front door. "Ok,ok," I said, shoving on my flip-flops and opening the front door. Fluffy bounded for the elevator, and pressing the button, the elevator doors closed.

Opening the glass doors, I noticed it was still dark outside; the dog sniffing around. I looked away to allow him some privacy. Twenty minutes later, we were back in the house; no work today. My mind went to the idea of crawling back into bed but quickly rejected the idea. Since I'm already up, I might as well do some work. Grabbing my suitcase from where I left it, I pulled out my laptop. My mind screams that it needs coffee before it could even think about looking at a computer screen. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like working on my laptop unless I absolutely have to. Walking to the kitchen, my hands reach out for the coffee can, putting ¾ of a cup into the filter. I wait until I can smell the percolating coffee mmmmm….French vanilla: love the stuff! Shifting over to my laptop, I start sifting through my E-mails replying to the ones that need immediate attention.

I took a second job to fill my time: working on computers. Nothing long term to jeopardize my job with the preventers, but something to help save for my dream house. Even now, the only thing I have ever wanted was a place to call my own, that was truly mine. After the war, I donated all of my money that was obtained through Oz to a bunch of orphanages on Earth and L2, since it was my fault half the children were in the system to begin with. Starting from scratch, I only did computer programming for companies that were trying to make it in an economy that was circling the drain, which helped with the bills, not that I had that many to begin with…when you're used to living with nothing it just sort of stays that way. Plus with my wages at the Perventers, I was pretty well off and should reach my goal fairly soon.

It wasn't until after the second war that I started to paint; drawings here and there, but nothing that stuck. It wasn't until I started to paint, that I realized, never before had I felt so relaxed, so thrilled that something I created didn't have to end in door bell jerked me out of my thoughts and I left my laptop to get to the door. Opening the door, Wufei and Duo stood cocking their eyebrows. Opening the door the rest of the way, I walked back to my small kitchen; laptop still sitting on the counter and the smell of coffee waiting for me. "Why are you here?" as I pulled down three cups, pouring them each one grabbing the sugar and cream off the counter and shoving it towards them. Not that I mind when Duo comes to see me, it's always a good morning when I can see him. His smile makes my stomach flip and my heart flutter… Oh god, I am becoming a sap! I wasn't sure if I wanted to shake my head in shame, or smile.

When Fluffy decided it was time to check things out, he stuck his head into the kitchen whined, sniffing the back of a pant leg. Wufei then whirled around, "Yuy when did you get a dog?" Duo shuffled his feet and smiled, "He's dog sitting for the neighbor girl." He held out his hand for the dog to sniff it gently and Fluffy started to wiggle his tail. I repeated myself, "Why are you here?" I watched as Wufei pulled out a file from his brief case and handed it to me. Opening it, I saw the name Alex Woodward; no picture was attached. The file was thin which either meant there was nothing that this person has done wrong, or that this identity only existed for a short while. Continuing to read, the police were called when a dispute between him and another individual had become heated. Which, resulted in Alex unloading a 9mm into a platform at the bus terminal; both fleeing the scene. Only one was arrested. "What does this have to do with me?" Duo pulled out what looked like a picture and handed to me. "The man is asking for Heero Yuy." Puzzled, I took the picture, and turning it over, my blood went cold.

Three children stood in front of a red brick building. There were no distinctive marking, but I knew the place like the back of my hand. My eyes landed on the girl in the picture: brown hair down to her chin and gray eyes where shining back in a smile. She was on the right. On the left, was a taller boy around the age of 10: blond hair and hazel eyes; a small smile was on his lips. In the middle was another boy around the same age. It was like staring at ghosts that just suddenly appear in front of you. "Heero, Heero?" Was someone talking to me? Looking up, my eyes met Duo's. Concern was in written on his face. "Where did you get this?" There shouldn't be any pictures of my childhood in existence "Alex Woodward had it on him said to give it to you." Looking down at the boy in the middle, both his arms were wrapped around the girl and the boy's shoulder.

His little face was set in a smile. I remembered that day so well one of the happiest days of my life. It wasn't long after that, that my world fell apart. Staring at the picture again, looking at my ten year old self, I noticed my nose was crooked from having it broken so many times. My face was covered in bruises from the foster parent that beat the shit out of me every day for three years; taking the beatings that were meant for the other kids. Lisa and Eric. God, it's been so long since my mind has pulled up the memories with them in it. If only I knew what I know now…. "Heero, Heero!" I looked up at Duo's knitted eye brows, "where is he at?" I needed to find out why and how he had this picture because both Lisa and Eric where the only ones that had a copy of it and they were dead. "HQ, of course." Nodding, I shut my laptop. "I'll be just a minute." I picked up my laptop and went to my room to change into my Preventer uniform, which only took a couple of seconds. Then I was out of the door with Duo, Wufei and Fluffy fallowing on my heals as we left my apartment complex.

Twenty Minutes later, we were in front of the Preventer kennels dropping Fluffy off. It was another ten minutes before we made it to the interrogation room, adjoining the room that had a two way mirror. As I walked through, my eyes landed on the man in question. Biting his nails, he had jet black hair that had a hint of blond at the roots, but his eyes where hazel. Feeling the blood drain out of my face, my mind went to the past.

"Eric, Lisa, come on! We're going to be late if we don't go now!" Lisa was smiling at me as she packed her backpack. "Ok, hold on Leland. Let me grab my lunch pail then we'll go." Eric was smiling at me, "Excited, huh?" Nodding my head enthusiastically, "of course it's Hero square, and you know how long I have been waiting to see it!" Eric's eyebrow went up, "are you sure your feeling up to it?" Glaring at him, I watched him hold his hands up. "Ok,ok. Ya know, if looks could kill..."

"Lisa, this way. There's a short cut that I know." Eric grabbing Lisa's hand and she held on tight. "I don't think we should go this way Eric." The old abandoned building was in front of  
them.

"Eric, we should go. It's only going to be ten more minutes if we go around; no big deal." Eric let go of Lisa's hand. "Did you guys lose your since of adventure? Before now, we use to call places like this home, and now you guys don't even have the guts to go in one? Don't forget who we were before. Let's go!" Blocking Eric's path, I objected, "we haven't lost that Eric, it just feels wrong. Please, let's just go around." Looking into my eyes, he nodded, "fine." It was in that moment that the world slowed down.

Two men came stumbling out of the abandon building, guns drawn when they saw us. "No witnesses," one of them mumbled. He took aim and fired, hitting both Lisa and Eric in the chest. Freezing, I felt the sting as a one of their bullets tore through my shoulder and knocked me to the ground. My eyes met Lisa's cold and distant ones. She was so still... "Lisa," my voice whispered, grabbing her hand trying to wake her up. "Lisa," my voice cracked, tears starting to slide down my face. My body stilled as I heard footsteps approach. "They're dead." There was some more shuffling of feet. "Wait, this one's still breathing." The man that was checking on me, left his gun in front of my face as he checked on the other boy. "Finish it. He doesn't want any witnesses." Hearing the rustlings, I grab the gun in front of me and turn over; my sadness turning to anger. The man's face was in shock as my finger pulled the trigger; the recoil on the gun causing me to drop it. I watched the man fall onto Eric. "You stupid Fucking brat!" That was the last thing he said, when someone came from the dark alley firing a shot, that killed the man instantly.

I shook Eric. He was so cold, or maybe it was me. Hearing the footsteps coming closer, the pain in my shoulder was intense as I try to pull the man off of Eric. "Eric, Lisa, come on. We need to go." The steps that were coming towards me stopped. "They're dead, boy." I looked up at the older man. "NO!" Scrambling over to Lisa, I grabbed her hand. "Wake up, Lisa….Please!" I brought my hand to the wound on her chest to stop the flow of blood, but there wasn't anything to stop. Placing my forehead against hers, I kept thinking she had so much life after everything we did. This was how it was going to end. "You're going to kill me, too?" I watched the man put his gun away. "That depends on your answer, and it needs to be quick." Staring at him, he continued, "I can kill you, or you can live, by coming with me." I looked down at Lisa and Eric; their eyes both glazed over. Could I go on without them? Could I wake up each day knowing that I was alive while they were not? There was nothing left for me in this life. "Kill me." Watching as he took out his gun again, I closed my eyes. I could feel the pressure of the barrel on my forehead. Sirens in the distance becoming a searing squeal in my ears, feeling the blood slowly drain out of my arm. I took deep breaths: one, two, three… then there was nothing but the pain that told me I was still alive. Opening my eyes, I could see the man across from me. "I don't kill children." Standing up, I noticed that my arm had been wrapped up in a make shift bandage. I stepped out of the little alcove, only to see I was standing in front of Hero's square. I laughed bitterly; tears of sorrow running down my face. "Boy?" I stared at the statues of the empires from a long ago country. "Call me Hero, old man." I watched his eyes widen when I said the name. "Heero it is then." I wasn't about to correct him. "Maybe we were distained to meet, Heero."…"Hn." That day I went numb from the pain. Shutting off my emotions, the only thing left was the instinct to survive. "The name is Odin, boy."

"Hey you ok man?" Turning off all the recording devices, I said abruptly, "everyone leave," addressing the two agents that were sitting in on the interrogation. Not giving my command a second thought, they got up a left. How could he still be alive? I watched him die. This is not Eric; his body was cold when I left him in the alleyway. "Don't give me that crap Heero." Sighing and sitting down, I began, "I knew a boy named Eric." I pulled out the picture and handed it to him. Wufei was sitting next to me, I continued, "the last time I saw him, I watched him die." Duo turned to me, "you think that this person is Eric?" I shrugged, "guess I'll find out." I left them in the room as I walked over to the adjacent door. Walking in, his hazel eyes met my blue as I stood there in front of the man. I walked over to the table and took a seat in front of him. "Leland, is that you?" My body did not register the name, but my mind was in shock. I just stared at 'Alex.' "Come on Leland, it's me: Eric. I know I have changed, but not as much as you have." I wanted to flinch at that comment, but I didn't allow myself to. Clearing my throat, I flipped open the file in front of us. "Your name is Alex Woodward. They told me that you requested me." Flipping another page, I added, "it states here that you unloaded your firearm into a bus terminal plate form. Can you tell me the reasoning for it?"

'Alex' looked at me seeing the anger build, it wouldn't be to long before… "Fuck you, Heero!" He pushed his chair back to stand up and pace. "I thought you died along with Lisa, but they never found your body." I had not realized that as soon as I set my eyes on Eric, I was harboring some hope that Lisa would still be alive. My fist where clenched together as I stared at Eric. 'This is not Eric', I chanted to myself, 'he died, you watch him die.' "You remember the little park we used to play at, pretending we were kids?" how could I forget; recalling how it felt when all the parents called their kids in at night. The three of us had to drag ourselves to whatever was suitable at the time. "She was buried up on the hill overlooking the park. She always loved that place." The pain in his voice was still fresh, like it only happened yesterday. "I should have died that day, not her. I am sorry." It was like he was trying to pick at a scab, not wanting to experience the pain; the vulnerability that he was trying to open up. I needed to take control back over this conversation. "Let's get back to the problem at hand." He sat back down, anger visibly gone from his shoulders as he slumped into his seat. "Tell me what happen this morning," I began. He started to laugh, "The man I was trying to get away from was Patrick." He watched me as my breath caught in my throat for the umpteenth time today. "He's looking for you; blames you for everything shitty in his life; wants his revenge or some shit like that; had to unload a clip into the ground to cause a distraction. It was luck that the dick at Preventors had a picture of you on his desk…figured you would have become a doctor, not a Preventer..."

Cutting him off, I interjected, "you said the name Patrick. Who is he?" My body was going numb at hearing that name, but my mind was whirling that this man knew a lot about me and things that nobody should know. Somebody was just putting the pieces together to fuck with me. Was it Patrick? His records indicated that he had died during the war, but then how many times had I died and come back to life? "Still pretending that you don't know me, huh …He wanted to know where you were and thought that I would know. He put a gun to my head and told me that if I didn't tell him where you were, he was going to blow my head off. That's when someone came into the bathroom. He bolted towards the platform and I shot into the ground. I was afraid that he was going to shoot and hit someone else…. He fucking lost it Le-Heero! All he sees is his revenge!" He sat back farther in his chair. I responded, "so you expect me to believe that you just coincidently found me?" I shook my head. 'He really thinks I am going to believe that!?'

"Now, when you have the real story to tell me, we can talk," I continued, getting up from my chair. I started to open the door, when he burst out, "fuck...I am not Eric. He told me what to do and told me what to say. He wanted me to talk to you. Please, he has my wife... you of all people know what he can do!" It felt like cold water was just thrown on me. The thing was, I wanted Eric to be alive. "Who are you then?" He put his face on the table and stated dejectedly, "Brian Stone," then rushing on, "The only way he will let my wife go is if you see him. Please, don't let him kill my wife!" The last part ended with a sob. Taking out a pen and paper, I handed it to him, instructing, "Write everything down that you know." Throwing in a glare for good measure, I continued, "Do NOT leave anything out." I started to walk out the door, when he suddenly called out to me, "Wait Heero, he gave me this."

He slid an envelope towards me and I picked it up by the corner. I purposefully looked down at the paper I gave him and reiterated, "Write," closing the door behind me. Duo was standing right outside of the door and questioned, "what the hell is going on, Heero?" I found an evidence bag and slipped the letter into it. I start walking towards the lab; my only response being, "Hn." Duo grabbed my arm and pulled me into the nearest vacated office. If it had been anyone else, they would have had a broken arm. "Who the hell is Patrick?" I stared into his eyes, noticing that they changed again: deep lavender with specks of violet and blue filled his irises. My hand slowly went to his face, touching his soft skin. I hated to see any sadness in his eyes. I watched as a shiver makes its way through his body; was it need? My mind was quick to replace it with revulsion, seeing the look of panic on Duo's face as I dropped my hand. "Stay out of it." Duo didn't follow as I left the room.


End file.
